Cornice installation and mounting bracket



June 16, 1959 J. A. ANDERLE 2,890,351

CORNICE INS'IALLATION AND MOUNTING BRACKET Filed July .28, 1954.

mvamon 2) JOSEPH A. ANDERLE HIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,890,851 CORNICE INSTALLATION AND MOUNTING BRACKET Joseph A. Anderle, Westerleigh, N.Y., nssignor to-Lorentzen Hardware Mfg. Corp., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application July 23, 1954, Serial No. 446,320 6 Claims. (Cl. 248-201) This invention relates to cornices, andmore particularly to brackets for removably supporting a cornice in position adjacent a window or door opening.

A cornice of the class with which the present invention is concerned is ordinarily used at the top of a window or door opening to hide the rods used for hanging curtains or shades. Whatever else the cornice may include, it includes portions that are known in the trade as the front and the returns. The front is a decorative board or strip that is positioned in front of the curtain rods, parallel to the building wall. The length of the front extends horizontally and the width of the front extends vertically. There are two returns. They extend from the front to the building-wall or other vertical building-member (e.g., window frame or door frame) on which the cornice is to be mounted. The returns are in parallel spaced relation, one endof each return being attached to the front and the other end. (i.e., the front-remote end) being attached to the vertical building-member on which the cornice is to be mounted.

In the cornice installation herein disclosed, the attachment to the building-member is by means of L-shaped mounting brackets individual to the returns, one leg of each mounting bracket being pre-attached to its associated return and the other leg of each mounting bracket being then engaged with a screw that has previously been driven into the vertical building-member. It is difiicult to drive the screws in the building-member at an accurate and optimum spacing to receive the brackets. With the present invention this is unnecessary as the mounting brackets are adapted to engage such screws over a con-' tinuous range of variation in their spacing on the vertical building-member. Also, the present invention facilitates removal and reinstallation of the cornice.

The bracket of the present invention is so constructed that, while installation, removal and replacement of the cornice is facilitated, the security of mounting is unirnpaired. The bracket is formed of a short piece of L- shaped sheet metal. A screw passes through a slot in one leg of the mounting bracket and attaches the bracket to the return of the cornice. The slot is. elongated, thereby permitting a limited amount of vertical adjustment to level the cornice. Another screw passes through a generally C-shaped slot in the other leg of the mounting bracket and attaches the bracket and cornice to the building frame. This C-shaped slot is so arranged that at the mid-point thereof there is an enlarged portion to permit the slot to pass over the projecting head of a screw that has been driven into the building-wall or other vertical building-member. The shape of this C-shaped slot permits a limited amount of horizontal adjustment of the cornice. Themounting bracket isTso formed that it may be used interchangeably for either end of the cornice, no rights and"l'efts being required.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved mounting bracket for removably supporting a cornice, the bracket being adapted for economical production and being capable of being used interchangeably on either end of the cornice.

Among other objects of the invention are the provision of an improved mounting bracket and cornice installation which permits certain latitude in the installation of the cornice, and which securely holds the cornice in position but facilitates removal and reinstallation of the cornice when desired.

Further objects, relating to details and economies of construction, manufacture and use, will more definitely appear from the detailed description to follow.

My invention is clearly defined in the appended claims. In the claims, as well as in the description, parts are at times identified by specific names for clarity and convenience, but such nomenclature is to be understood as having the broadest'meaning consistent with the context and with the concept ofmy invention as distinguished from the pertinent prior art. The best mode in which I have contemplated carrying out my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification in which:

Fig. l is a front perspective view of a cornice attached to a window frame, portions of the cornice being broken away to show the mounting brackets of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, with portions broken away, illustrating an intermediate step in the installation of the cornice.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 2 showing the installation completed.

Fig. 4is a perspective view similarto Fig. 2 illustrating an intermediate step in the installation of the cornice when the mounting screws for the window-frame-contacting legs of' the two brackets are somewhat closer together than in Fig. 2. t i

Fig. 5 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 4 showing the installation completed.

Pig. 6 is a perspective view of the mounting bracket.

Referring now to the drawings, the cornice 10 is comprised. of a horizontally-extending front 11 and returns 12 extending rearwardly from the two ends of the front. A pair of mounting brackets 14, 14 attach the cornice iii to the frame 15 of the window.

The bracket 14 (Fig. 6) is an L-shaped piece of sheet metal having a cornice-engaging leg 16 and a windowframe-engaging leg 17. The cornice-engaging leg 16 has a centrally located, vertically extending slot 19 which is adapted to receive the shank ofa headed fastener such as screw 20. Since the slot 19 extends vertically, it permits a limited amount of vertical adjustment of each end of the cornice 10.

At its top and bottom the cornice-engaging leg 16 is provided with outwardly extending metal formations or prongs 21, 21. which oppose swivelling movement of the bracket 14 about the screw 20 and carry part of the weight of the cornice. The prongs 21, 21 also aid in initial mounting of the bracket 14 on the cornice by temporarily holding the bracket during the insertion of the screw.

The window-frame-engaging leg 17 of the bracket is provided with a vertical slot portion. 22 and two horizontal slot portions 24, 24 extending from the ends of the vertical slot portion22 to form a generally C-shaped slot.. The vertical slot portion 22 is enlarged at 25 to permit the passage of the head 2d of a screw 27, whereas the remainder of the slot portion 22 and the slot portions 24, 24 are somewhat narrower than the diameter ofthe head 26 of the screw so as to prevent passage of the headof the screw.

An etched line 29 or other such means is provided to indicate the proper location for spotting the screws 27, 27. The indicia 29, 29 are so located that a limited and equal amount of lateral error in either direction in the locating of the screws 27, 27 is permitted without interfering with proper installation of the cornice. The bracket is symmetrical about a central horizontal plane so that the bracket may be used on either end of the cornice by simply invertingthe bracket.

Before installing the cornice the cornice-engaging leg 16 of each bracket 14 is attached to the inside one of the returns 12 by a screw 20 inserted through the slot 19. The prongs 21, 21 temporarily hold the bracket14 during insertion of the screw 20, carry some of the weight of the cornice after it is'installed, and prevent swivel movement of the bracket should the screw become loosened.

After insertion of the screws 27, 27 in the window frame, the cornice is placed on these screws by entering the enlarged intermediateportions 25 of the slots of the brackets 14, 14 over the heads of the screws, if the screw spacing is the same as the spacing of the enlargements 25, 25. The cornice isthen permitted to drop down so that the shanks of the screws extend through the top lateral slot portions 24 of the two brackets.

Ordinarily, both brackets can not be entered simul taneously over the screws 27, 27. Instead, the bracket 14 at one end of the cornice is entered over its screw 27 and that endof the cornice dropped so that the shank of the screw extends through upper slot portion 24. The secondbracket 14 at the opposite end of the cornice is then entered over its screw 27. The horizontal slot portion 24 in the first bracket permits the cornice being moved endwise a limited amount to align the enlargement 25 of the second bracket with the second screw 27 despite minor mis-spacing ofthe screws (see Figs 2 and 3 Inasmuch as it oftentirnes'is difficultto properly set screws 27, 27 to close tolerances,'the'indicia 29, 29 for spotting these screws: have been so located as to provide equal plus or-rninus tolerances in the spacing of 'the screws.

In Fig. 4 the distance b between the axes of the screws 27, 27 is less than the distance between the index mark 29 on one bracket 14 and the corresponding index mark 29 on the other bracket 14. However, the distance b is the same as the distance between the centers of the" two en largements 25, 25. Thus, the brackets can be passed over the heads of. screws 27, 27 as indicated in Fig. 4. Then the cornice can be dropped down to the position indicated in Fig. 5. In Fig. 2 the distance a between the axes of-screws 27, 27 is the same as the distance between the corresponding index marks 29, 29 on the two brackets 14. After the left bracket 14 has been engaged with its screw 27 and shifted to the position shown in Fig. 2, the enlargement 25 of the right bracket 14 can be passed over the head of its screw 27 as is also shown in Fig. 2. Then the cornice can be brought to the position indicated in Fig. 3. Where the spacing between the axes of the screws 27, 27 is somewhat greater than the spacing between the corresponding index marks 29, 29 on the two brackets, the installation is also made as in Figs. 2 and 3. However, in the Fig. 3 position of the cornice the screws are located farther along the horizontal portions of the C-shaped slots in the two brackets.

In casethere is any vertical misalignment, it can be corrected by loosening one of the screws 20, 20 and, after properly adjusting the cornice, retightening the screw. The verticalslot 19 of each bracket permits a limited amount of such adjustment.

I claim:

1. In a cornice installation in which the cornice includes a front and two spaced parallel returns that extend rearwardly from the front, the front-remote ends of the returns being supported mediately by two spaced headedscrews each driven'into a vertically-disposed buildingmember, with the axes of the screws generally parallel to the lengths of the returns, the improvement which corn prises: means for connecting the front-remote ends of the returns with the screws over a continuous range of variation in the spacing of the screws, said means comprising brackets individual to the returns and attached thereto, each bracket having a leg extending laterally from the front-remote end of its associated return, each such bracket-leg having a hole to pass over one of the screw heads and having a slot to engage behind the screw head, the slot extending upwardly from the hole and then horizontally, and both the upwardly-extending and the horizontally-extending portions of the slot being wider thanthe diameter of the screw shank and narrower than the diameter of the screw head; whereby the laterallyextending leg of one bracket may be engaged with its screw head and then that bracket and the cornice be shifted downwardly and thence horizontally, with the and aid in holding it in adjusted vertical position while the screw of the screw-and-slot connection is being tightened.

'3. A cornice installation as in claim 1 in which the brackets have legs in contact with the returns, a single screw-and-slot connection secures'each such bracket-leg to its associated return, and each such bracket-leg is provided at its top and bottom with prongs which engage the return and prevent it from swivelling on the screw of the screw-and-slot connection.

4. *A' bracket for use in pairs to secure the two rear wardly extending'returns of a cornice to spaced headedscrews, each screw being driven into a vertical buildingmember and the bracket providing a measure of continuous tolerance as regards the spacing of the screws,

said-bracketcomprising: a leg for attachment to the return, a vertical-surface-engaging leg having a hole to telescope over the head of the screw in the building-memher,- a slot for engagement behind the head of the screw, the slotextending upwardly from the hole and then horizontally, both the upwardly-extending and the horizontallyextending portions of the slot being wider than the diameter of the screw shank and narrower than the diameter of the screw head, and a corresponding slot extending downwardly from thehole and then horizontally so that the bracket is reversible for use either as a right or as a left.

5. A' bracket as in claim 4 in which an index mark is provided adjacent the midpoint of the length of each horizontally-extending slot portion, the index mark being for use in spotting the screw to divide the tolerance in the spacing of the screws half in the direction of the screws being too close together and half in the direction of the screws being too far apart.

6. A bracket as in claim 4 in which the leg for attachment to the return is provided with a vertical slot to adjustably cooperate with a screw inserted through the slot into the return, and such bracket-leg is also provided top and bottom with prongs to project into the return and prevent it from swivelling on the screw.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 296,734 Dodge Apr. 15, 1884 1,498,456 Kroder June 17, 1924 1,897,091 Weinland Feb. 14, 1933 2,143,278 -Myers Jan. 10, 1939 2,293,919 Rabe Aug. 25, 1942 2,342,893 Purcell Feb. 29, 1944 2,462,525 McCormick Feb. 22, 1949 2,553,869 Purcell May 22, 1951 

